Snagged the last spot in a GK Guru foursome at DCCC with JohnnyGK, gary00, and sparky14 ahead of the GolfMoose/GK event to be held there next week. Played at 12:21pm on Tuesday, 1/18/22 under cool, cl... Continue »

Snagged the last spot in a GK Guru foursome at DCCC with JohnnyGK, gary00, and sparky14 ahead of the GolfMoose/GK event to be held there next week. Played at 12:21pm on Tuesday, 1/18/22 under cool, cloudy skies without a lot of wind. The course was pretty busy with a multi-foursome group right ahead of us, and we finished in just over 4.5 hours.

The course is set in a remote canyon with large homes surrounding some holes and open views of SoCal brushy hillsides in the lower half, dominated by huge old oak trees. While there’s not generally a lot of elevation change on any one hole, the course plays up and down the steep canyon and uphill/downhill playing lines dominate most holes. Uphill approaches here almost always require 1 to 2 clubs more than your flat-earth distance, and the angled plateau greens make approach lines tricky and dangerous. The exceptions to this elevation discussion are the par-3 10th and 17th holes, where your tee shot drops 70 to 80 feet to the green far below. And the gorgeous par-5 11th holes plays downhill some 70 feet from tee to green through a corridor of huge oak trees.

Greens on this Nicklaus Signature design are mostly huge and sharply angled to the line of approach, with some significant undulations, slopes and tiering. Almost every green had well-defined target areas separated by hogbacks and tiers – you really had to be familiar with these greens to know the subtleties of some of the breaks. Most greens had steep runoffs into swales or hazards that made recoveries challenging. In general, the breaks on the course trend down the canyon to the south, but all greens had subtle undulations that messed with your mind. Turf on the greens was pretty thin and in areas where they are shaded by canyon walls and huge oaks the greens are noticeably damp, thin and brown. Greens were more receptive than I expected and rolled at medium+ speed. Repeated plays would definitely be beneficial for your scoring on these greens. And hit your putts firmly, especially going back up the canyon.

Fairways and rough are showing their winter dormancy and have a rough, scruffy look. Fairway lies are generally very thin and tight, although the ball usually sat OK. Rough was generally cut at 1-2” and was not difficult to play from. Around the margins of many greens there were some large semi-bare areas that were puttable if you could avoid scattered grass clumps. Tees were generally fine (we played White) with only a couple slightly sloping. Traps were well-maintained and had qood quantities of sand for fairway shots and greenside recoveries.

Carts were nice and had a cooler with ice and bottled water, but no club cleaner or charger port. There’s a nice interactive TFM GPS – that’s not always the case at private clubs. The GPS gives distance to the pin location, but today all of the pin locations shown were incorrect, so we had to use our own tools. There were ice/water machines at the turn and at bathrooms after #4 and #12, but the machine at #4 wasn’t working.

One aspect of the course that was disappointing was the number of holes designated as “path-only”, which we found out about when the GPS shut down our carts. Holes 3, 6, 11, and 18 were so designated, despite our observations that conditions were pretty firm and restrictions were not needed. These canyon-type courses are tough for older players with all the up-and-down to get to and from tees, greens, and the ball. Players don't need the 'path-only' stuff on top of that when it’s not necessary!

With hills separating the course from the cities to the west the atmosphere is very quiet and secluded. The lower level of the large clubhouse is very nice and the men’s locker room is huge. There’s a large outdoor patio that looks out at a putting green with course-ready contours and conditions, and down the canyon over the very picturesque 18th hole, with a tumbling waterfall and the only water hazard on the course fronting the green. Near the starter’s stand there’s Jack’s Den, which has sandwiches, snacks, and drinks. There’s also a second putting/chipping green there near the first tee.

Service was great at all levels and staff was very friendly and helpful. Many thanks to Johnny for setting up this round at a prime location.